T
akea deepbreath– I bet
yo u feellikeyouneedit
ri ghtnow!Howareyou?
I’ m giving you a virtual
hug (if you don’t mind, ha ha!).
My last column was written just
as lockdown began and, as I write
th is, we are now over a monthin...
The world has changed so much.
It ’s hard to believe, isn’t it? School
is cancelled, jobs are furloughed,
most travel is banned, socialising
is n’t allowed, and every single
f ll h f l heffectsof the‘newnormal’– even
ourlittleones.
So,thismonth,I justwantto say,
‘I’m with you’. This is hard in so many
ways, and though I’m sure we’ve
heard it said a thousand times, we
really are all in this together. By the
time this magazine goes out, we
may still be in lockdown, or perhaps
things will have eased a bit, but the
likelihood is life will still be restricted.
I thought I’d share some things
I’ve been doing to keep my spirits
up, because
motherhood is
hard at the best
of times, let alone
when you don’t
have your arsenal
of soft play, baby
groups and
mummy friends
for cake and
catch ups!- Go for a walk every day. I know it’s
a bit boring, but the fresh air and
change of scenery will do you and
the children a world of good. Try
to make it fun for little ones by
collecting leaves or petals or sticks,
or talking about what you can see as
you push the buggy. I’m not a fitness
person (understatement of the year!),
but gentle exercise is proving really
worthwhile for my mood. - Accept the new pace. I usually like
to bulldoze through a lengthy to-do
list, and feel accomplished when I do
lots in a day. But I can’t do that now
with Darcy needing home-schooling
and having no help with Pearl. I’ve
had to make the to-do lists much
shorter and, actually, when you give
in to the slower pace of life, rather
than fight against it, it’s much easier.
You can only do what you can do. - Dig out all the toys! You know all
the old stuff in the shed that needs a
good hose down? Bring it out! Make
washing it a game and give it all a
new lease of life. We have a lot of
baby toys, but we’ve bought them all
out to let Pearl play with them in a
different way now she’s so mobile. It’s
worth taking a few minutes to see
what you have stashed away that you
could make exciting again! - Eat good food. Again, I’m not
usually one for super-healthy eating,
but now I have a bit more time, I’ve
actually been enjoying cooking
simple, nutritious recipes. There’s
a wealth of great recipes online,
or you could just see what you
have in and make something up –
at your own peril, ha ha! - Stay connected. Technology is
amazing and you can talk to almost
anyone in the world. I’ve been
scheduling in video calls so that
I have something to look forward
to later in the day, rather than just
calling at random. It’s
helpful to have a bit of
isePentlandWhatdayis it again?!,asksM&Bcolumnist
LOUISEPENTLANDWhere do I start?